Tenth Regiment's Bottom-Dwelling Squad Leader

The flames still burned, and the stench of burning corpses filled the entire camp. Hudson, covering his nose, found it impossible to fall asleep.

The excitement of the day had been too much. From an ordinary person who struggled to kill a chicken to a butcher on the battlefield, Hudson didn't know how he had gotten through it.

The pressure of survival had transformed him. If it hadn't actually happened, Hudson wouldn't have known he possessed such a rational and cold side.

Indeed, human potential was forged under duress. After being baptized by fire and war, Hudson had become increasingly mature and rational.

As dawn broke, painting the sky with a streak of red clouds, the assembly horn sounded. Military orders were like mountains on the battlefield, and Hudson could only drag his exhausted body to gather his troops.

The soldiers weren't in much better shape either. It was clear that yesterday's events had been too intense, and everyone needed time to recover.

Unfortunately, their feelings didn't matter. The decision-makers believed in the swiftness of troop deployment and wouldn't care about the thoughts of the common soldiers.

Of course, an expedition wasn't something that could be launched on a whim. The allied forces of various nobles had gathered over ten thousand disorganized troops. If they weren't properly arranged, they might fall into chaos before even finding the enemy.

This was something all the nobles understood well. After all, there had been frequent accidents on the way here.

The reorganization began, and as expected, it was based on family units. While not scientifically sound, it was highly practical.

Over eighty percent of the troops were a rabble. Even their own lords couldn't command them effectively, and if a different officer were in charge, they wouldn't even make it to the battlefield.

According to the prevailing military system on the continent, ten men formed a squad, a hundred men a company, a thousand men a regiment, and ten thousand men an army. Regardless of suitability, this structure was directly imposed.

The formations were temporary, and there was no need to pay salaries. In this regard, Governor Pierce was exceptionally generous, establishing five understrength armies at once.

The seven individuals who attended the council meeting last night coincidentally became the commanders of the five armies. Hudson would have eaten his knight sword if there wasn't some insider dealing involved.

Unsurprisingly, the strengths of the five armies were unbalanced. The First Army, personally led by Count Pierce, was the undisputed elite. Viscount Oran's Second Army was also reasonably strong, but the remaining three armies were a different story.

In general, the further down the ranking, the weaker the army.

Without any surprise, the former allies were independently reorganized into an army, with Knight Chels as its commander.

Due to the heavy losses suffered in yesterday's battle, this newly formed army was directly relegated to the bottom of the five armies.

Thanks to the large number of soldiers under his command and the minor credit he gained on the battlefield yesterday, Hudson was honored to be appointed as the commander of the Tenth Regiment of the Fifth Army.

However, this Tenth Regiment looked quite pathetic. Besides Hudson's own contingent, only six hundred ownerless serf soldiers were assigned to it, making this rabble even more fitting of its name.

In fact, even those six hundred serf soldiers were given to Hudson because everyone else found them troublesome and no one wanted them.

Thanks to this, the Tenth Regiment became the only full regiment in the Fifth Army, and one of the few full regiments in the entire noble allied army.

With other regiments in the Fifth Army generally having only four to five hundred men, the Tenth Regiment, with over a thousand soldiers, stood out significantly.

It was all forced. While it was nominally a reorganization of the entire army, the execution ultimately respected the wishes of the noble lords themselves.

Logically, given his previous interactions, Hudson shouldn't have had trouble finding allies to form a team. But the problem lay with the position of "regiment commander."

Those who operated in noble circles might lack military talent, but political acumen was absolutely essential.

Everyone knew that the higher one's position in the army at this time, the greater the initiative they would have in the upcoming war, and the greater the advantage in the future struggle for territory.

When it came to vested interests, no one was willing to back down. The numerous understrength regiments were the result of everyone's compromise.

Families with slightly stronger capabilities chose to go it alone. Weaker families were forced to unite.

However, even these alliances were small groups formed by three to five knights, with limited participation.

The reason for this situation was still profit. If there were too many allied partners, there wouldn't be enough territory to go around even if they won.

Thanks to his previous performance and the banner of the Coslo Family, Hudson was seen by everyone as capable of monopolizing the spoils.

Those of equal strength went their own way. For those of unequal strength, even if Hudson was willing to lower himself to form an alliance, they didn't believe his promises could be kept.

Even with good relationships, at this point, everyone maintained sufficient rationality, prioritizing their own interests.

With things having reached this stage, Hudson could do nothing. He couldn't explain to them: "Our main force hasn't arrived yet; all we have are cannon fodder. Trust me, you'll get your share after the war."

Not to mention others, even Hudson himself didn't believe it. Even if the main force hadn't arrived, couldn't it arrive later?

Greed was a powerful motivator. If it weren't for the time constraint, everyone would be eager to call friends and strengthen their forces, not hoard them.

Looking at the several knights and dozens to hundreds of elite infantry in others' teams, Hudson felt utterly lacking in confidence.

In this world where everyone was trying to outdo each other, Hudson was on the verge of tears for accidentally becoming the worst.

To strengthen his forces, he had to seek out ownerless serf soldiers. To be precise, it wasn't exactly seeking; as soon as Hudson proposed his request, everyone unanimously agreed.

There was no other reason; they simply couldn't command them. Their own serf-formed cannon fodder was already giving them a headache, and they didn't want to invite more trouble.

In fact, Hudson's initial target wasn't serf soldiers, but the remaining guards of the fallen lords. Unfortunately, these veteran soldiers had already been claimed by Knight Chels, the army commander.

Frankly speaking, not only was Hudson's Tenth Regiment in a dire state, but the First Regiment personally led by Chels wasn't much better.

Apart from his personal strength, the dozens of soldiers under Chels' command were truly unimpressive.

Even by using his position as army commander to claim the dozens of veterans left behind by unfortunate allies, it didn't change much.

To make up the numbers, Chels could only accept ownerless serf soldiers. However, due to command considerations, his intake was much smaller.

He only accepted less than two hundred men, causing the First Regiment to become the regiment with the fewest soldiers in the entire army.

If it weren't for the Tenth Regiment being at the bottom, Chels' First Regiment would have been the weakest combat unit in the Fifth Army.

At one point, Hudson suspected that Chels had strongly pushed for him to become the commander of the Tenth Regiment to avoid embarrassment.